THE  ISSUES  OF  THE  CAMPAIGN. 


'  '  SPEECH 

OP 

GOY.  REUBEN  E.  FENTON, 

At  Jamestown,  September  19th,  1868, 


Fellow  Citizens  :  I  cannot  conceal  from  you  the  embarrass¬ 
ment  I  feel,  on  personal  grounds,  in  coming  from  the  Capital  of 
the  State  to  speak  to  you  on  the  political  issues  of  this  canvass. 
The  meeting  of  neighbors  and  friends  brings  up  associations  and 
reflections  that  could  best  find  expression  in  social  intercourse 
and  visit  with  you,  and  which  contend  against  the  more  rugged 
duties  relating  to  a  political  discussion.  In  a  short  time,  however, 
almost  concurrent  with  the  close  of  this  canvass,  I  am  to  lay  aside 
the  cares  of  public  position  and  return  to  your  midst,  and  then  I 
shall  not  hesitate  to  express  the  obligation  I  am  under  to  you, 
and  the  friendship  and  the  gratitude  I  feel. 

The  principles  involved  in  the  political  conflicts  which  are  in¬ 
cident  to  organized  society,  are  few  and  not  hard  to  be  understood. 
The  enthusiasm,  excitement  and  acrimony  of  party  feeling  are 
carried  to  a  greater  extreme  under  a  form  of  government  like  ours, 
than  in  those  where  there  is  less  freedom  of  public  opinion  and  a 
more  restricted  elective  franchise.  After  all,  this  free  popular  , 
outburst  and  discussion  in  which  our  people,  indulge,  ought  to 
tend  to  greater  intelligence  upon  controverted  questions,  and 
therefore  to  greater  security  for  our  rights  and  our  liberties.  In 
the  case  before  us,  and  upon  which  we  are  called  to  decide  at  the 
ballot-box  in  November,  it  seems  to  me  that  no  one,  not  misled 
by  prejudice,  or  ignorant  of  facts,  need  be  in  doubt  as  to  what  is 
correct  in  principle,  or  due  from  him  in  the  discharge  of  duty.  I 
do  not  mean  by  this  that  the  acts  of  one  party  are  all  right,  and  of 
the  other  all  wrong,  for  there  is,  doubtless,  something  to  condemn 


2 


in  both,  but  that  the  purpose  and  general  effect  of  the  conduct  of 
one  party  in  a  great  trial  period  such  as  that  through  which  we 
are  passing,  are  right  and  beneficial  to  the  country,  and  of  the 
other  wrong  and  dangerous.  In  other  times  the  policies  of  par¬ 
ties  are  not  apt  to  result  in  civil  disorder,  whatever  the  varying 
fortunes  of  political  organizations.  It  is  a  struggle  within  the 
forms  of  established  government,  and  each  party  alike  devoted  to 
the  Union,  and  alike  lovers  of  liberty.  But  in  the  present  con¬ 
test  we  are  not  free  to  indulge  the  hope  that  the  safety  of  public 
affairs  would  be  equally  protected  and  secured  by  the  accession  to 
power  of  either  of  the  contestants.  I  do  not  say  that  the  patriotic 
and  eminent  men  connected  with  the  Democratic  party,  nor  gene¬ 
rally  the  members  of  that  party,  meditate  embarrassment  and  dis¬ 
honor  to  the  Government,  but  that  the  platform  of  the  party,  the 
declarations  of  many  of  its  representative  men,  and  the  spirit 
which  seems  to  control  them  and  to  animate  the  canvass  on  their 
part,  tend  strongly  to  this  result. 

THE  CONSTITUTIONAL  POWER. 

You  do  not  expect  me  to  undertake  a  review  of  parties  with 
reference  to  their  adherence  to  or  departure  from  the  spirit  and 
power  of  the  constitution.  The  events  of  our  history,  and  the 
views  of  leading  statesmen  indicate  an  interpretation  which  the 
majority  of  the  people  willingly  accept.  Mr.  Pendleton  in  his 
Bangor  speech,  dwells  upon  what  he  is  pleased  to  term  the  philoso¬ 
phy  of  our  system  of  government.  He  says  it  is  a  Union  and 
not  a  unity,  and  he  refers  to  the  danger  from  centralization  of 
power.  He  did  not  tell  us  that  the  natural  deduction  from  his 
theory  was  that  upon  which  Secession  was  attempted  to  be  justi¬ 
fied.  It  is  better  to  have  declared  that,  while  our  Government  is 
built  up,  maintained,  conducted,  and  defended  by  ourselves,  there 
is  no  power  within  ourselves  less  than  a  majority  of  all  the  peo¬ 
ple,  that  can  change  it,  and  the  attempt  to  do  it,  outside  of  the 
forms  prescribed,  is  treason  and  forfeiture  of  political  privileges- 
Of  course,  I  do  not  touch  the  point  of  successful  revolution.  After 
the  fall  of  the  Confederacy,  the  States  which  composed  it  were  dis¬ 
organized  communities,  and  while  they  failed  to  escape  from  their 
obligations  by  destroying  the  Union,  they  succeeded  in  renounc¬ 
ing  their  political  rights  under  the  Constitution,  and  in  destroying 


3 


their  local  State  organizations.  It  is  plain  that  on  the  dissolution 
of  the  armies,  in  1865,  there  was  no  lawful  local  government  in 
any  of  the  insurgent  States ;  nor  was  there  then  any  authority 
in  the  people  of  those  States  to  regain  their  lost  power.  Having 
thus  lost  the  functions  of  government  in  the  States,  what  power 
was  competent  to  restore  their  lost  condition  ?  It  was  not  in  the 
States  themselves  independent  of  Congressional  action  and  recog¬ 
nition.  There  was  no  lawful  local  Executive  to  call  an  election, 
and  there  was  no  lawful  local  authority  to  evolve  an  Executive. 
The  President  was  competent  to  proclaim  peace,  and  he  doubtless 
had  authority  to  hold  these  States  under  military  rule  until  pro¬ 
vision  could  be  made  for  their  reorganization  under  the  authority 
of  public  law ;  but  he  could  not  institute  civil  governments,  for, 
under  the  Constitution,  Congress  alone  could  guarantee  a  republi¬ 
can  form  of  government  to  the  States.  He  had  no  power  to  enact 
or  to  repeal  an  act  of  Congress.  Clearly  these  were  questions  for 
the  law-making  power  of  the  Government;  and  to  be  determined 
not  by  his  will,  but  by  the  will  of  the  nation,  expressed  in  the 
form  prescribed  by  the  Constitution.  The  policy  of  President 
Johuson,  as  disclosed,  was  to  assume  the  prerogative  of  Congress, 
and  to  exercise  in  those  States  the  powers  relinquished  by  the 
Confederate  leaders.  He  not  only  proposed  his  own  terms  to 
them,  but  also  to  the  nation,  and  by  reinstating  the  Rebel  author¬ 
ity  with  increased  political  power,  to  confer  upon  them  the  fruits 
of  victory.  His  plan  embraced  no  less  than  immediate  represen¬ 
tation  at  Washington.  It  was  proposed  by  him  to  restore  those 
who  had  been  defeated  in  war  to  the  position  of  a  governing  class ; 
ruling  those  whom  they  had  recently  held  in  bonds,  and  making 
laws  for  the  nation  which  they  had  tried  and  failed  to  destroy. 
Instead  of  a  u  Union  and  not  a  unitj^,”  their  doctrine  plainly  leads 
to  a  Union  and  a  unity,  under  the  direction  of  the  President,  and 
a  centralization  of  power  in  the  Executive,  not  authorized  by  the 
Constitution,  and  dangerous  to  the  rightful  authority  of  the  law¬ 
making  department  of  the  Government.  It  is  a  policy  revolting 
to  the  general  sense  of  national  justice  and  manhood,  and  hostile 
to  the  genius  and  practical  requirements  of  our  institutions.  The 
manner  in  which  the  authority  of  reconstructing  or  restoring  these 
States  should  be  exercised  by  Congress  is  another  thing,  and  to 
that  I  shall  have  occasion  to  refer  before  I  conclude  my  remarks 


4 


TENDENCY  OF  PARTIES, 

I  have  said  that  the  tendency  of  the  Democratic  party  was  dan¬ 
gerous  to  the  quiet  of  the  country,  and  that  the  continued  power 
of  the  Republican  party  would  strengthen  social  order  and  civil 
liberty.  I  hardly  need  say  that  the  candidates  of  the  two  parties 
embody  views  of  our  present  condition,  and  the  true  mode  of 
settlement  under  the  Constitution,  and  of  future  progress,  almost 
as  opposite  as  peace  and  war — as  irreconcilable  as  prosperity  and 
adversitv.  It  is  fortunate  at  least,  to  a  correct  understand! n£  of 

I J  w- 

the  matter  that  each  party  in  this  respect  is  faithful  to  the  leading 
ideas  which  marked  its  career  from  the  first  gun  fired  at  Sumter 
to  the  close  of  the  late  session  of  Congress.  It  will  not  be  found 
easy  to  divert  the  attention  of  the  people  from  the  true  state  of 
the  question.  Our  party  strove  to  maintain' the  nationality,  to 
assert  the  integrity,  of  the  Union,  and  to  supply  the  means  ade¬ 
quate  to  this  end ;  the  other  seemed  willing  to  impair  it  by 
unworthy  concessions,  disheartening  the  people  by  magnifying  its 
difficulties,  multiplying  its  dangers,  belittling  its  successes,  destroy¬ 
ing  its  necessary  regulations,  and  by  repeated  declarations  of  the 
utter  impossibility  of  attaining  the  end  sought,  and  the  wicked¬ 
ness  of  the  means  employed.  The  one  had  faith  and  courage 
throughout  the  long  dark  night  of  war ;  the  other  deemed  the 
war  wrong  and  a  failure.  These  will  be  recognized  as  some  of 
the  well  known  views  of  the  parties  which  lived  through  the  war, 
and  that  continue  with  positions  very  little  changed  by  the  lessons 
■which  it  taught,  or  by  the  entreaties  of  peace. 

OPPOSING  CANDIDATES. 

The  nomination  of  Gen.  Grant  by  the  Republicans  was  alike  the 
natural  expression  of  their  principles,  and  a  signal  mark  of  honor 
and  gratitude  to  the  great  captain  who  led  our  cause  through  the 
difficulties  and  perils  of  war  to  a  glorious  triumph.  It  should  be 
remarked,  too,  that  his  course  throughout  the  war  was  hardly 
more  gallant  and  faithful  than  it  has  since  been  true  to  the  prin¬ 
ciples  involved  in  the  struggle  and  wise  in  their  application. 
Equal  to  great  emergencies,  and  exhibiting  a  singleness  of  purpose 
and  devotion  to  principle  rarely  equalled,  his  ability  to  administer 


9 


5 


the  affairs  of  the  Government  with  usefulness  and  honor  seemed 
to  be  generally  conceded,  and  long  before  the  Convention  he 
became  the  almost  unanimous  choice  of  our  party.  No  one  can 
doubt  his  honesty,  but  few  even  of  the  opposite  party  question 
his  ability,  and  none  should  hesitate  to  give  him  their  confidence 
and  support  who  prefer  the  peaceful  consummation  of  the  great 
work,  which  the  war,  in  the  mysterious  ways  of  Providence,  has 
placed  before  us.  In  like  manner  and  with  equal  consistency  with 
their  history  and  objects,  the  Democratic  party,  after  a  full  com¬ 
parison  of  views  and  mature  deliberation,  gave  the  nomination  for 
President  to  Horatio  Seymour.  It  is  hardly  worth  while  to 
amplify;  in  a  word,  it  is  sufficient  to  state  that  from  the  begin¬ 
ning  the  Democratic  party  was  opposed  to  the  war,  opposed  to  the 
means  of  sustaining  it,  and  opposed  to  the  measures  which  have 
been  deemed  necessary  to  restore  the  country  since  the  war. 
With  these  party  characteristics,  which  they  have  not  had  the 
patriotism  or  courage  to  shake  off,  Gov.  Seymour  has  been  through¬ 
out  in  entire  and  hearty  accord.  And  so  it  is  that  no  man  could 
represent  them  in  the  canvass  for  the  Presidency  with  more  gene¬ 
ral  acceptance,  as  both  true  to  them  in  the  past,  and  fully  approv¬ 
ing  their  most  dangerous  tendencies  for  the  future.  With  no 
purpose  to  question  the  motives  of  men,  it  is  not  too  much  to  say 
that  but  few  other  men  could  have  been  placed  at  the  head  of  their 
ticket  whose  acts  and  opinions,  in  public  and  political  affairs, 
would  have  kindled  the  spirit  of  rebellion  in  the  South,  and 
repudiation  both  North  and  South,  more  successfully. 

•  THE  ISSUE. 

The  issue  then  is  plain.  The  Republican  party  accepts  the 
Southern  States  with  their  present  governments  as  members  of 
the  Union,  and  in  good  faith  would  give  them  all  the  benefits  of 
the  Constitution,  and  it  faithfully  maintains  the  sacred  character 
of  the  public  debt  created  in  defense  of  the  Union.  The  Democratic 
party  denounce  these  governments,  and  is  committed  to  their 
overthrow,  and  as  a  logical  result  the  substitution  of  the  old,  or 
other,  though  new,  governments,  to  be  under  rebel  control.  They 
do  not  declare  in  favor  of  the  payment  in  good  faith  ot  every  obli. 
gation  of  the  Government,  and  we  are  led  to  believe  that  if  they 
had  the  authority  the  terms  of  payment,  if  not  the  payment  itself 


6 


would  be  jeopardized.  In  other  words,  we  are  confronted  by  a 
party  whose  spirit  and  teachings  lead  us  to  apprehend  from  their 
accession  to  power,  a  growing  disrespect  to  the  fundamental  prin¬ 
ciples  of  our  institutions,  and  a  disregard  of  the  good  faith  of  the 
nation.  It  will  be  in  vain  that  our  opponents  attempt  to  divert 
the  discussion  by  charging  us  with  debt,  which  their  present  allies 
made  necessary,  and  which  their  own  course  has  done  so  much  to 
augment;  with  extravagance,  in  which  they  have  equally  partici¬ 
pated  ;  and  with  excesses  which  they  have  helped  to  swell,  and  to 
which  all  parties  in  power  are  subject.  If  it  was  true  that  our 
party  could  be  justly  arraigned  in  the  manner  and  to  the  extent 
they  would  have  the  people  believe,  it  is  still  of  trifling  importance 
compared  with  the  great  principles  on  which  the  canvass  rests,  and 
which  are  essential  to  uninterrupted  restoration  and  peace.  That 
we  have  done  some  things  which  we  ought  not  to  have  done,  is 
probable,  but  after  all,  to  the  everlasting  honor  of  the  Republican 
party,  they  have  shown  unwearied  fidelity  to  human  freedom,  to 
justice,  to  equal  rights,  and  to  the  honor  and  perpetuity  of  the 
Republic. 

THE  FINANCES. 

Let  me  repeat  that  the  question  we  pass  upon  is  not  mainly 
one  of  taxation  and  debt,  although  grave  considerations  of  finan¬ 
cial  policy  will  continue  to  form  interesting  and  important  themes 
for  discussion.  We  do  not  say  that  the  debt  is  no  larger  than  it 
ought  to  be,  that  taxation  is  most  equitably  distributed,  and  that 
the  revenue  is,  in  every  respect,  honestly  and  ecconomically 
gathered.  It  may  be  asked,  however,  and  the  inquiry  is  signifi¬ 
cant,  which  party  and  which  policy  will,  at  the  earliest  period, 
reduce  and  discharge  the  debt  and  conduct  the  finances  with  the 
least  derangement  to  the  industry,  credit,  and  prosperity  of  the 
country?  The  public  debt  has  been  created,  and  while  the 
causes  which  led  to  it  must  add  largely  to  the  weight  of  odium 
resting  upon  the  Democratic  party,  the  question  of  immediate  and 
practical  importance  relates  not  so  much  to  the  responsibilities  of 
the  past  as  to  the  disposition  for  the  future.  How  shall  we  meet 
the  public  debt?  What  temper  shall  we  bring  to  the  treatment 
of  the  national  expenses?  These  are  the  vital  considerations 
growing  out  of  this  subject.  The  maintenance  of  the  public 


7 


credit  is  dependent  upon  the  preservation  of  the  public  faith.  In 
these  days  when  great  emergencies  frequently  arise,  sudden  and 
unavoidable,  in  the  history  of  nations,  and  when  rapid  advance  in 
the  science  of  warfare  has  made  wars  so  formidable  and  expen¬ 
sive,  the  public  credit  is  the  right  arm  of  the  national  safety.  It 
is  hardly  less  essential  than  a  sturdy  and  patriotic  population,  for 
while  we  have  civil  commotions  and  wars,  the  munitions  and 
means  to  support  war  are  almost  as  indispensable  as  the  stout  and 
willing  arms  to  direct  them.  An  irreproachable  credit  is  also  a 
sure  key  to  the  relief  of  burdens.  We  borrow  money  during 
a  period  of  war  at  a  higher  rate  of  interest  than  we  want  to  pay 
in  time  of  peace.  But  a  sound  credit  would  enable  us  to  negoti¬ 
ate  new  loans  in  exchange  for  the  old,  at  a  lower  rate  of  interest. 
England  formerly  paid  six  and  eight  per  cent,  for  all  the  money 
she  borrowed,  but  now  three  or  four  per  cent,  will  bring  whatever 
amount  is  desired  to  supply  her  wants.  A  scrupulous  mainten¬ 
ance  of  the  public  faith,  making  the  public  credit  as  good  as  the 
purest  gold,  is  the  key  to  financial  ease,  security  and  stability. 
We  would  put  our  credit  on  this  firm  foundation,  and  therefore 
the  Chicago  platform  declares  in  the  highest  spirit  of  statesman¬ 
ship,  for  the  payment  of  the  public  indebtednesss  in  the  uttermost 
good  faith,  not  only  according  to  the  letter,  but  the  spirit  of  the 
laws.  Nor  does  this  involve  any  special  hardship,  even  when 
judged  by  the  narrow  standard  of  immediate  interest.  Much  has 
been  said  as  to  whether  the  debt  should  be  paid  in  gold,  or  in 
greenbacks.  It  seems  to  me,  however,  that  this  question  need 
not  at  any  time  assume  a  high  degree  of  importance ;  or  rather 
that  we  may  so  conduct  the  finances  as  to  equalize  at  no  distant 
day,  these  two  classes  of  money,  and  thus  to  render  the  one 
almost  as  desirable  as  the  other  for  daily  transactions.  While  we 
insist  upon  the  observance  of  the  strictest  good  faith,  we  do  not 
propose  to  pay  any  considerable  portion  of  the  debt  at  once.  In 
the  language  of  the  Chicago  platform,  it  is  our  policy  to  ex¬ 
tend  it  over  a  fair  period  of  redemption.  Meanwhile  it  is  to  be 
hoped  we  shall  be  gradually  and  steadily  approaching  to  a  sound 
specie  basis.  Men  recognize  the  truth  that,  as  it  was  the  exigency 
of  war  which  compelled  us  to  depart  from  the  accustomed  chan¬ 
nel,  so  with  the  return  of  peace  we  shall  again  seek  that  condition 
which  is  indispensable  to  healthful  prosperity.  It  should  not  be 
so  precipitate  as  to  derange  business,  but  by  careful  and  prudent 


8 


% 

advances,  consulting  all  interests  and  guarding  all  industries,  and 
thus  gradually  proceed  toward  the  necessary  end.  And  when  we 
have  arrived  at  that  point  there  will  no  longer  be  much  question 
as  to  the  mode  of  paying  the  debt.  Greenbacks  will  then  be 
equivalent  to  gold,  and  whether  the  creditor  be  paid  in  the  one 
or  the  other  will  be  a  matter  of  little  practical  consequence  either 
to  him  or  the  nation.  Since  the  close  of  the  war,  two  hundred 
and  sixty-seven  millions  have  been  paid  on  the  principal  of  the 
Public  Debt.  With  the  reduction  of  taxation,  this  rapid  liqui¬ 
dation  cannot  be  continued,  but  the  simple  statement  refutes  the 
charges  of  infidelity  to  its  trust  freely  made  against  the  party  in 
power.  I  need  not  say  that  the  statements  of  expenditure  which 
have  been  made.in  the  high  quarters  of  those  who  are  advocating 
the  election  of  a  Democratic  administration  are  greatly  overstated 
and  made  to  convey  an  erroneous  and  unjust  impression.  A  care¬ 
ful  research  into  the  report  will  show  that,  while  the  expenditures 
incident  to  the  unsettled  period  immediately  following  a  great 
war  are  necessarily  large,  the  cost  of  the  Government  outside  of 
the  interest  on  the  public  debt  and  the  pensions  and  bounties 
which  a  grateful  nation  has  justly  decreed,  exceeds  very  little  the 
cost  of  the  Government  in  the  average  eight  years  preceding 
the  war,  under  Democratic  rule,  if  we  consider  the  inflation  in 
prices  and  the  increase  of  population.  As  we  approach  a  more 
settled  period,  this  cost  can  and  should  be  reduced.  For  the  next 
year  the  national  appropriations  are  but  a  little  over  one  hundred 
millions.  Taxes  have  been  abated  in  the  sum  of  more  than  one 
hundred  and  fifty  millions  within  the  last  three  years  ;  so  it  is 
apparent  that  the  Republican  party  tends  towards  retrenchment 
of  expenses  and  reduction  of  burdens.  To  no  one  could  the 
cause  of  economy  and  rigid  accountability  be  more  safely  intrusted 
than  to  Gen.  Grant,  who,  while  temporarily  in  charge  of  the  War 
Department,  as  at  the  head  of  the  army,  has  shown  the  firm  pur. 
pose  to  lighten  the  burdens  of  the  people  by  systematic  and 
wise  retrenchment. 

RECONSTRUCTION  MEASURES. 

Nor  is  it  even  a  question  whether  the  reconstruction  measures 
are  wholly  right  in  every  provision,  but  whether  in  their  scope 
and  general  character  they  were  not  necessary  and  wise  acts,  to 


9 


the  end  that  loyal  men  should  be  protected  and  loyal  govern¬ 
ments  established.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  Congress  has  at  any 
time  been  compelled  to  exercise  unusual  powers,  even  in  the 
work  of  binding  up  and  endeavoring  to  heal  the  bruises  of  our 
assaulted  Union.  But  so  it  was  during  the  war,  because  the 
exigency  had  not  been  anticipated  and  amply  provided  for  in  our 
Constitution  and  laws,  and  so  it  has  been  since,  because  the  mild 
measures  which  the  loyal  nation  proffered,  were  again  and  again 
rejected,  and  thus,  driven  from  point  to  point,  resort  was  had  to 
the  military  acts  as  the  least  that  could  be  done  to  compel  peace 
and  prevent  violence  and  anarchy.  You  can  all  bring  to  mind 
the  conciliatory  character  of  the  proposed  amendment  which  was 
tendered  in  good  spirit  as  a  basis  of  settlement,  and  how  the  rebel 
element  of  the  South  and  the  Democratic  party  North  denounced 
it  and  spurned  it.  Moderate  yet  firm  in  our  purpose,  consistent 
and  uniform  in  the  work  of  restoring  the  Union,  we  had  urged 
this  measure  for  their  acceptance.  To  our  disappointment,  the 
ruling  element  in  the  South  continued  not  only  to  manifest  a 
spirit  of  hostility,  but  also  a  purpose  to  oppress  those  who  in 
honor  and  justice  we  were  bound  to  protect.  We  warned  them, 
as  a  result,  that  it  would  be  the  duty  of  Congress,  by  more  strin¬ 
gent  measures,  to  give  effect  to  the  popular  will.  Thus  it  was 
that  the  advance  movement  was  in  some  measure  owing  to  the 
obstinacy  of  our  opponents,  and  a  real  necessity  to  repress  the 
defiant  spirit  and  cruel  purpose  of  the  Kebel  portion  of  the  South¬ 
ern  population.  Has  not  this  scheme  of  reconstruction  made  good 
progress  ?  Under  it  a  majority  of  the  late  insurgent  States  have 
reorganized  and  resumed  practical  relations  to  the  Union,  and 
why  now  attempt  to  destroy  or  disturb  it  ?  Is  it  the  easiest  and 
quickest  way  out  of  our  troubles,  and  is  it  just  ?  It  is  well  known 
that  the  opposition  of  the  President  to  the  Congress  has  encour¬ 
aged  the  Pro-Slavery  class,  and  emboldened  them  in  more  and 
more  extreme,  and  more  and  more  unreasonable,  if  not  revolution¬ 
ary,  doctrines.  Can  this  state  of  things  be  remedied  by  the  elec¬ 
tion  of  a  President  who  will  continue  the  course  Mr.  Johnson  has 
pursued  ?  It  seems  to  me  that  on  this  ground  alone  it  is  clearly 
our  duty  and  our  interest  to  elect  a  President  who  will  be  in 
entire  accord  with  the  Congress.  Who  can  doubt  the  hearty 
acquiescence  of  the  Southern  people  long  before  this,  in  the  pro¬ 
positions  of  Congress  if  the  President  had  not  delayed,  and  finally 
2 


10 


tried  to  prevent  their  execution  or  their  acceptance.  The  next 
House  of  Representatives  will  be  like  the  present  one,  and  it 
comes  to  me  with  the  force  of  conviction,  that  the  difficulty  which 
now  hangs  over  us,  threatening  our  repose  and  impeding  our  pros¬ 
perity,  will  be  cleared  away  by  the  election  of  Gen.  Grant.  If  we 
should  fail  in  this,  it  is  probable  we  may  have  continued  trouble  ; 
but  if  we  succeed,  as  I  firmly  believe  we  shall,  I  look  upon  the 
future  of  our  country  as  presenting  no  hiatus  in  the  course  toward 
increasing  quiet,  prosperity  and  renown.  Intelligent  suffrage  in 
the  South  will  then  soon  be  as  general  as  it  is  equal  with  all 
classes,  and  a  common  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the  Government 
will  spring  up,  and  finally  embrace  those  who  to-day  are  hostile, 
as  well  as  those  who  are  friendly. 

GROWTH  OF  PUBLIC  SENTIMENT, 

I  do  not  mean  to  express  a  doubt  as  to  the  result  of  this  election. 
Those  who  have  taken  careful  note  of  the  events  of  our  history, 
and  our  progress  in  passing  from  one  to  another,  cannot  fail  to 
have  observed  the  steady  growth  of  public  sentiment  upon  all 
great  fundamental  questions  of  government  and  of  man.  Let  no 
one  think  that  the  current  will  turn  backward.  It  is  true  there  is 
danger  at  intervals,  that  the  people,  weary  of  the  strain  of  active 
political  warfare,  surfeited  with  success,  and  losing  sight,  for  the 
hour,  of  the  value  of  immediate  enforcement  of  the  principles  which 
underlie  the  contest,  may  give  way  or  seem  indifferent  to  the  result 
of  the  battle.  Even  if  this  was  our  case,  we  should  soon  recover 
the  lost  position,  and  our  cause  would  only  suffer  by  the  delay  in 
its  triumph.  The  foundations  of  Republican  government  would 
indeed  be  shaken  when  we  can  no  longer  rely  upon  the  patriotism 
of  the  people.  Let  us  look  back  for  a  moment  and  review  this 
solid  advance  of  public  sentiment  in  demanding  in  our  govern¬ 
ment  a  more  perfect  embodiment  of  the  immortal  principles  enun¬ 
ciated  in  our  Declaration  of  Independence.  The  lessons  of  a 
century  are  significant,  and  no  one  can  read  those  this  country  has 
given  without  feeling  the  firmest  reliance  in  the  wisdom  and 
patriotism  of  the  great  body  of  the  people.  Note  the  step  by  step, 
often  slowly,  sometimes  for  a  time  to  the  right,  sometimes  to  the 
left,  yet  at  last,  always  in  the  direction  of  human  freedom.  Thus 
the  country  emerged  from  its  condition  of  incompleteness,  so  as  to 


11 


require  modifications,  both  numerous  and  radical,  and  finally  the 
adoption  into  the  Constitution  of  the  equal  liberty  and  citizenship 
of  all  those  born  on  or  duly  naturalized  to  American  soil.  Nor  is 
it  the  less  significant  that  every  marked  advance  has  been  a  recoil 
from- some  blow  struck  by  the  advocates  of  despotism  against  the 
fundamental  idea  that  our  government  is  for  the  governed.  A 
little  more  than  one  hundred  years  ago  the  friends  of  self-govern¬ 
ment  met  at  Albany  and  attempted 'a  general  American  Union  in 
opposition  to  the  exactions  and  aggressions  of  a  foreign  despotic 
power.*  In  1787,  the  work  being  consummated,  the  public  domain 
of  the  new  Republic  was  consecrated  to  freedom.  In  1820  the 
same  great  process  was  repeated,  in  the  enactment  of  the  Missouri 
Compromise,  and  about  a  third  of  a  century  after,  following  the 
rude  assaults  upon  this  national  principle,  the  American  people 
again  proclaimed  to  the  world,  speaking  through  the  triumph  of 
free  labor  in  California  and  Kansas,  their  unalterable  devotion  to 
free  popular  government.  Should  I  not  say  that  from  the  territorial 
aggrandizement  sought  by  the  slave  power  came  the  free  States 
of  the  West,  and  from  a  Rebellion  against  the  government,  of  those 
who  would  have  made  an  iniquitous  system  of  labor  the  corner¬ 
stone  of  the  Republic,  has  come  the  emancipation  of  4,000,000 
slaves,  and  the  enfranchisement  of  a  race.  •  No  better  illustration 
of  the  growth  of  public  sentiment  on  these  points  can  be  afforded 
than  that  of  our  more  recent  history.  Again  and  again  the  nation 
paused  that  the  insurgent  States  might  return.  The  emancipation 
proclamation,  the  Constitutional  amendment,  the  Civil  Rights 
bill;  while  the  intervals  between  these  measures  reveal  a  high 
sense  of  consideration,  they  also  show  the  direction  and  the  firm¬ 
ness  of  the  growth  of  public  sentiment  when  stimulated  by  oppo¬ 
sition  to  the  application  of  those  truths  which  underlie  our 
political  fabric.  Against  this  rising  tide  the  Democratic  party  has 
striven.  Its  present  appeals  to  the  worst  passions  and  the  worst 
prejudices,  will  be  as  unavailing,  I  doubt  not,  as  its  previous 
efforts  at  any  time  during  the  last  period  of  the  nation’s  trial. 

I  do  not  share  in  the  apprehension  some  profess  to  feel,  that  the 
vital  conditions  of  our  national  life  give  evidence  of  premature 
dissolution.  Neither  our  political  nor  our  civil  strifes  partake  of 
the  character  of  those  which  blacken  the  page  of  the  history  of 
former  Republics.  Theirs  was  a  contest  for  territorial  aggrandize¬ 
ment,  for  governmental  splendor ;  for  expansion  of  power ;  and 


12 


personal  ambition  and  religious  fanaticism,  eacli  in  turn  offered 
an  excuse  for  the  aggression  of  power  upon  weakness ;  it  was  a 
tripple  index,  pointing  to  a  bloody  past,  a  fitful  present,  and  an 
unhallowed  future.  Ours  has  been,  in  the  main,  a  steady  pull 
for  the  broader  rights  of  man,  for  still  more  liberal  sentiments  to 
be  faithfully  embodied  in  the  Constitution  and  laws.  With  us  it 
has  been  a  conflict  between  the  great  truths  upon  which  our  politi¬ 
cal  system  rests,  and  a  misled  opposition,  sometimes  allied  to  an 
odious  and  discarded  despotism.  The  fierce  struggles  of  our  ances¬ 
tors  with  the  Indians  for  a  foothold  on  this  continent,  their  colo¬ 
nial  wars  with  the  French,  their  great  contest  for  independence, 
the  war  of  1812,  and  the  recent  gigantic  struggle  with  rebellion, 
illustrate  the  popular  and  tenacious  idea  of  liberty  and  union. 
Following  well  the  doctrine  of  the  fathers,  we  have  reason  to 
congratulate  ourselves,  my  friends,  upon  the  progress  and  stability 
of  the  principles  we  have  sought  to  maintain. 


DUTY  OF  YOUNG  MEN. 

In  the  pending  contest  the  national  character  is  more  deeply 
involved  than  in  any  previous  one;  all'  classes  are  implicated,  and 
I  suppose  in  the  presence  of  so  many  young  men,  I  may  be 
pardoned  for  saying  that  no  portion  have  a  greater  interest  in  the 
result  than  they  have.  The  men  at  the  head  of  affairs  must,  in 
the  nature  of  things,  soon  give  up  the  places  they  occupy  to  those 
who  now  in  early  manhood  enter  upon  the  duties  of  our  busy 
national  career.  To  them  will  be  committed  the  duty  to  promote 
the  future  common  welfare,  to  develop  with  fostering  care  the  vast 
and  diversified,  but,  to  a  great  extent,  the  still  latent  resources  of 
the  continent;  to  spread  cultivation  and  civilization  over  its  unoc¬ 
cupied  districts;  to  give  higher  development  to  every  form  of 
industry,  and  to  prevail  in  the  benefits  to  be  derived  from  the 
commerce  of  the  world.  It  is  all-important  to  us  and  to  them,  to 
their  future  prospects  and  our  common  fame,  that  they  become 
identified  at  once  with  the  party  of  equal  rights,  feeling  that 
duties  are  constant,  and  that  justice  is  born  of  heaven,  and  must 
prevail.  Beginning  right,  men  grow  strong  as  they  grow  old. 
The  value  of  government  consists  in  the  freedom  it  affords,  and 
the  protection  it  gives  to  civil  rights  and  civil  order ;  but  it  can 


13 


have  only  what  the  people  who  compose  the  Government  give  to 
it.  It  requires  constant  vigilance,  as  well  as  constant  fidelity. 
The  young  /nen  have  more  of  the  spirit  and  enterprise  that  liberty 
inspires,  as  well  as  more  years,  and  their  reward  for  having 
engaged  in  this  cause  of  ours  will  be  correspondingly  great. 
There  is  no  hope,  in  my  opinion,  for  a  long  and  successful  career 
to  the  Democratic  party.  In  defiance  of  the  lessons  that  a  genuine 
progress  has  written  on  every  leaf  of  our  history,  they  have 
become  the  party  of  reaction.  Herodotus  tells  us  of  a  gramini¬ 
vorous  animal  that  had  long  projecting  horns,  which  when  it 
would  graze  struck  into  the  ground  and  prevented  it  from  moving 
forward,  so  that  it  was  compelled  to  move  backward.  Laying 
aside  the  comparison,  which,  however,  will  not  be  regarded  as 
wholly  inapplicable,  it  may  be  well  said  that  the  Democratic  party 
is  opposed  to  facts,  to  the  logic  of  events,  and  must  become 
unenviable  in  the  distinction  which  history  will  give  to  it,  for  its 
course  during  the  past  few  eventful  years  ;  no  less  for  opposition 
to  just  and  necessary  legislation  for  peace  than  to  rapid  triumphs 
in  war. 


STATE  AFFAIRS. 

I  hope  I  do  not  weary  you,  but  you  will  expect  me  to  say  some¬ 
thing  about  the  affairs  of  our  State.  There  is,  indeed,  occasion  for 
solicitude  here.  The  debt  is  large ;  our  system  of  internal  im* 
provements  requires  the  most  careful  supervision  and  manage¬ 
ment;  the  scheme  of  education,  prison  discipline,  and  our  numer¬ 
ous  charitable  and  public  institutions,  should  receive  thoughtful 
consideration,  and  such  generous  support  as  our  already  heavy 
burdens  will  permit.  Have  we  anything  to  gain  in  this  respect 
from  a  change  ?  I  know  something  of  the  difficulties  attending 
the  administration  of  our  State  affairs.  I  know  how  difficult  it  is 
to  satisfy  all  the  members,  even  of  our  own  party,  but  I  have 
learned  also,  that  a  firm  endeavor  to  protect  the  public  interests 
will  in  the  end  always  meet  the  approval  of  the  people.  My 
observation  does  not  lead  me  to  believe  that  the  interests  of  the 
State  and  the  welfare  of  the  people  would  be  enhanced  by  being 
placed  in  Democratic  keeping.  The  party  which  controls  in  the 
city  of  Hew  York,  and  which  has  grossly  mismanaged  its  affairs, 
and  fearfully  increased  its  burdens,  would  rule  triumphant  in  the 


14 


State.  A  review  of  the  journals  of  the  Legislature  alone  will 
satisfy  any  one,  it  seems  to  me,  that  we  take  a  large  risk  in  giving 
over  to  the  Tammany  Democracy  the  seal  of  State.  I  am  person¬ 
ally  well  acquainted  with  our  candidate  for  Governor'  and  I  may 
assure  you  that  but  few  better  men  can  be  found  for  the  trust. 
John  A.  Griswold  is  a  man  of  large  views,  honest  and  fearless, 
and  under  his  administration  your  treasury  and  your  statute-books 
will  be  safe  from  the  excess  of  appropriations,  local  schemes,  and 
special  privileges,  and  the  credit  and  honor  of  the  State  fairly 
maintained.  I  did  not  intend  to  say  much  about  other  candidates, 
and  simply  refer  to  those  on  the  ticket  with  him,  and  to  the  emi¬ 
nent  citizen  associated  with  Gen.  Grant  with  unconcealed  satisfac¬ 
tion,  as  being  worthy  of  our  confidence  and  hearty  support.  Your 
local  candidates  have  been  selected  with  care;  I  know  Col.  Cam¬ 
eron  to  be  a  faithful  and  deserving  public  servant ;  and  I  mention 
our  candidate  for  Congress  with  the  most  sincere  approval.  I  will 
not  complain  if  you  do  better  for  him  in  this  District  than  you 
ever  did  for  me.  I  hope  you  will  give  him  eight  thousand  majority. 
You  will  thus  strengthen  him  for  your  work  at  Washington,  and 
give  him  increased  influence  in  the  affairs  of  our  District,  our 
State  and  our  nation. 

Perhaps  no  State  in  the  Union  has  a  deeper  interest  in  the  result 
of  the  national  canvass  than  ours — the  canvass  for  President, 
Vice-President,  and  members  of  Congress — and  we  will  not  fail 
in  united  and  earnest  effort,  which  ought  to  give  us  the  victory. 
The  wealth  of  New  York  is  large  beyond  that  of  any  other  State, 
and  in  an  equal  ratio  the  people  are  concerned  in  the  credit  of  the 
State,  and  the  certain  and  honest  payment  of  the  national  debt. 
Our  immense  industries  are  involved ;  the  daily  laborer,  the  capi¬ 
talist,  the  men  in  the  various  trades  and  the  professions,  are  all 
alike  interested.  Who  of  these  men  do  not  feel  a  conscious  pride 
in  the  credit  of  New  York,  and  who  would  not  blush  with  indig¬ 
nation  to  tarnish  the  honor  of  their  growing  nation  by  wronging 
its  creditors?  We  have  alike  labored  to  keep  down  the  debt  of 
the  State  and  pay  off  the  debt  of  the  nation.  In  less  than  three 
years  since  the  war  we  have  paid  off  one-tenth  of  the  principal  of 
what  we  owed,  beside  the  extraordinary  demands  upon  us  in  the 
way  of  bounties,  pensions,  increase  of  expense  of  our  Indian  ser¬ 
vice,  the  high  prices  resulting  from  the  depreciation  of  paper 
money,  and  the  ordinary  expenses  of  the  Government.  Every 


15 


widow  who  has  a  small  sum  deposited  in  the  savings  bank ;  every 
laborer  who  works  by  the  day,  month  or  year ;  the  soldier  who 
receives  a  small  allowance  from  the  Government  in  recognition  of 
his  valor  and  his  sacrifices  on  the  battle-field,  and  the  property 
of  all  is  equally  concerned  in  the  maintenance  of  the  policy^  of 
our  party,  upon  the  debt  and  currency  question.  The  stability 
of  the  latter  is  almost  a  necessity  to  the  faithful  discharge  of  the 
former,  and  in  every  aspect  it  is  an  object  of  vital  importance.  It 
is  the  representative  of  produce  and  of  industry,  and  every  act 
which  discredits  it,  or  impairs  the  national  ability  to  support  it,  is 
a  crime  against  the  people.  With  prudence  in  all  matters  per¬ 
taining  to  the  administration  of  government,  we  need  not  shrug 
our  shoulders  at  the  weight  of  our  burdens.  In  this  respect  we 
have  nothing  to  gain,  but  much  to  fear,  in  allowing  the  Democratic 
party  to  attain  the  ascendancy.  Our  debt  is  less,  upon  population, 
than  that  of  Great  Britain,  and  hardly  more  than  that  of  several 
countries  of  the  Old  World  which  have  far  less  ability  for  pay¬ 
ment  than  our  own.  We  have  vast  material  wealth,  resources, 
and  varied  industry,  that  surpass  any  other  country.  Our  popu¬ 
lation  is  estimated  at  one  hundred  millions  in  1900.  So  if  we 
should  only  support  the  ordinary  expenses  of  Government  and 
pay  the  interest  on  the  public  debt  during  the  intervening  period, 
the  amount  to  each  person  would  be  less  than  half  what  it  is  now  ; 
yet  the  Republican  party,  acting  upon  the  principle  that  each  gen¬ 
eration,  as  far  as  it  is  possible,  should  reduce  the  general  burdens, 
has  entered  upon  a  moderate  course  for  the  extinguishment  of  the 
debt,  which  will  result  in  entire  payment  within  a  third  of  a  cen¬ 
tury.  The  great  future  of  our  country  is  beyond  the  most  san¬ 
guine  hopes,  if  we  are  faithful  in  the  discharge  of  the  trusts 
committed  to  our  hands.  Never  with  any  other  people  were 
privileges  so  great  or  responsibilities  so  sacred. 


i 


CONCLUSION. 


It  is  a  waste  of  time  to  recur  at  length  to  the  conduct  of  the  4 

Democratic  ^jarty,  running  back  through  the  last  twenty  years  ;  ^ 

conduct  which  has  brought  all  our  troubles  upon  us.  It  is  pre- 
sumed  that  a  collection,  of  events  so  essential  to  be  known  by 
every  American  citizen*,  has  not  been  neglected  by  you.  I  can-  V 


not,  however,  forbear  to  mention  the  so  called  compromise  meas¬ 
ures  of  1850,  and  hbw  the  Democratic  party  told  us,  at  the 
Baltimore  convention,  in  1852,  that  they  would  thereafter  resist 
all  attempts  at  renewing,  in  Congress  or  out  of  it,  the  agitation  of 
the  slavery  question,  under  whatever  shape  or  color  the  attempt 
be  made.  And  3^et  how,  in  1854,  they  destroyed  the  Missouri  re¬ 
striction  in  the  interest  of  Slavery ;  the  violence  they  instigated 
and  the  blood  they  shed  in  Kansas  for  its  establishment,  and  how 
they  attempted  to  enforce  the  Lecompton  Constitution  with  its 
sanction  of  human  bondage,  up  in  that  young  and  liberty-devoted 
State,  It  is  no  time  for  passion  ;  I  make  no  attempt  at  exaggera¬ 
tion,  and,  therefore,  speak  calmly  of  the  past,  and  appeal  to  you 
in  sober  seriousness  of  the  future.  In  the  nature  of  things,  there 
can  be  no  disfranchised  class  in  this  country.  Even  the  late 
Rebels,  as  a  class,  are  not  excluded  from  the  ballot-box.  Those 
who  are  disqualified  by  the  Fourteenth  Amendment  will  ere  long 
be  restored  by  the  generosity  of  Congress ;  but  I  warn  you,  my 
friends, (  against  placing  power  very  soon  in  the  hands  of  men  who 
have  so  recently  assailed  the  Government  they  had  sworn  to  sup¬ 
port,  and  those,  who,  because  they  did  not  then  denounce  them  as 
rebels,  now  have  their  almost  undivided  support ;  against  placing 
power  in  the  hands  of  men  who  undervalue  the  financial  good 
faith  and  honor  of  the  nation, 


